Safety-paper



' was STATE PATENT OF IC JAMES M. WILLGOX, or GLEhT MILLS,HPENNSYLVANIA.

.SAFETY-PAPER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,650, dated July 24,1866.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that 1,-JAMES M. WrLLoox, ofGlen Mills, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented -a new anduseful Improvement in Preventing GounterfeitingBank-Notes, Bonds, 850;"; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full,-

clear, and exact description thereof, which will enableothers skilled inthe art to fully understand and make use of the same.

This invention consists in interminglin g with certain portions of thebody of the paper'intended for bank-notes,-bonds, or other documents ofvalue fibers of anysnitable material or materialssliflerent from theordinary fibers of the paper, the other portion or portions of the paperbeing .left free from such additional fibers ortheir equivalent in sucha manner that a paper is produced which cannot possimy be imitated, andwhich, when usedfor .bank notes, bonds, or other documents of value,will effectually prevent alteration or counterfeiting.

invention consists in the preparation of of bank-notes, bonds, drafts,and, other evidences of value. This I propose principally; but I proposealso to impart a higher character to papervalues by making them morereliable, so as to raise them in public estimation. LMypaper is designedforthese'purposes, and by protecting my invention by a patent I purposeto confine the production of the peculiar 1 paper to special sources,thus guarding the article and keeping it away from the reach ofcounterfeiters. r

Many plans have been offered and carried; out for the production of apeculiar paper, but not one of them is now in extensive use-suchaswater-marking,introducing coloring-matter either into the pulp or intothe paper during its transition from piilp, placing letters andfigureseouched between two or more layers of formed paper, threads alsoand filaments couched between layers in the same way; biit all .of thesesubstances are only foreign bodies, distinguishing the paper only bytheir foreign character-{and lending value to it only by':tlie supposeddifficulty of introducingthem into an association with the paper. V Ofall. the above methods water-marking "l-alonrr offers a peculiarity ofthe paper-substance. and has beenconsequently. more, used peculiar paperto. prevent the counterfeitingthan all the others together. This is dueto the general knowledge of .the fact that watermarking at one timecould only be efl'eoted in the transition stage, and could not besubsequently imitated. At present it is no longer inimitable and isgoing into disuse.

Some years ago a new process of marking paper appeared in France in theintroduction of pigments of various colors into the transition pulp insuch a way as to produce lines andfigures-in the sheet. From the factthat the coloring-matter introduced in this way among the fibers becamea quasi component part {or the paper a new efl'ect was universallyconceded. Although there was no perfect hoinogeneity, either in materialor method, a near approach to it brought forth a new an invention wasmade.

Now, if I set aside the old method' of mixing colored fibers I standalone in introducing into the paper a material perfectly homogeneouswith it in a perfectly homogeneous method, andforming a single, solid,homogeneous sheet-that is,,I" mark certain component fibers of the sheetand interlock them through and among themse vesand the other fibers inthe same way as al the rest of the paper is put together. This producesa new effect to the eye, and the knowledge. of the method produces neweflect to r the mind, a feeling of greater security, which is all. Idesign to accomplish. There is no foreign body in my paper, and it iseasily recognized by this perfectly apparent peculiarity.

Paper, is made of fibers intermingled and" interlaced together in suchaway that they are not individually visible to an ordinary observer. Imake a portion of them+a deterall, making mined portion ofthem--'visible to the paper recognizable, not by the association ofanything elsewith it, but by itself. The marked fibers, perfectlyhomogeneous with the others, are mingled with them while allare'in afluid state, and all are woven together,;both

depths, into the V upon the surface and at all bodyof the paper. Theeffect is the same asv though certain ordinary fibers of a sheet ofpaper could beselected and colored or marked alongtheir whole lengths onthe surface and into through the sheet without changing others, and thisis not .only the same effect produced, but it is the same factaccomplished.

Other plans have been rejected as unsuit effect, and

promiscuously through the pulp,

ablefor various reasons. All plans based upon the principle of couchingforeign bodies, large or small, between layers of paper have beenfinally rejected, and properly rejected, for they can all be imitatedbyplacing the same bodies between sheets of paper already made and driedand then cementing them together, and thiscan be done in secrecy;moreover, they do not show when the paper hecomes soiled, worn, andopaque.

Another reason is that foleign bodies separate the fibers of the sheet,preventing their interlocking in certain places, and thus so weaken thepaper by occupying the place of paper that they cause it to be easilycracked or worn through or torn. The sheet, moreover, when foreignbodies are couched between its layers, is thicker at those places andnot well adapted to fine printing, and any hard calendrin g resorted toto diminish those thicknesses weakens the real paper covering and unfitsit for service.

I insist upon the perfect homogeneity of my paper as producing a uniqueefl'ect,,and this character of it is easily recognized by the markedfibers showing plainly on the surface and dimly in the interior by asurface examination,but all of them distinctly by looking through thesheet.

This, added to the knowledge that the paper could not be imitated orproduced outside of a paper-mill, would lend a very strong sense ofsecurity. The temptation to try to produce it in a hidden way forunlawful purposes would not be entertained, nor the temptation to try toimitate it by exterior coloring, so as to produce the same effect.

The task of imitating the exterior portions wouldseem a hopeless one,and the imitation of all, both interior and exterior, would be betrayedby a glance through the transparency of the paper.

special paper; and if the difficulty of manufacturing without notorietyand of manufacturing at all be a safeguard, then do I offer thatsafeguard above all others.

Nearly all other special papers can be so closely imitated in secrecy bycementing bodies between sheets of thin paper that in order tocounterfeit, it is not necessary to bring a papermill into collusion,much less a first-class mill. WVith my paper it is different. Thecounterfeiter must have a Fourdrinier machine, and the reason isevident.

I I In a cylinder-machine the cylinder covered with wire-cloth revolvingin a'vat of fluid pulp sucks the nearest fibers against the surface byan interior vacuum, and the paper is already formed before it rises outof the water. As the side of the cylinder climbs, the attached fibers,full of water, take a vertical direction, and any marked fibers amongthe pulp would take the same general direction-a circumstance whichwould' always betray a cylindermade paper, even if the marked fiberscould be grouped; but the impossibility of locating and interweaving aline of marked fibers upon a cylinder under the surface of a fluid pulpand against a perpendicular wall of wire-cloth effectually confines themanufacture of my paper to machines that form their sheet upon ahorizontal vibrating wire, which is not the case with any other peculiarpaper for the prevention of counterfeiting. Now, when we reflect thatsuch machines, known by the name of their inventor, Fourdrinier, are,compared with the number of cylinder-machines, comparatively few, so fewas to be easily watched, and that they are only in mills of the higherclass, and when we know, moreover, that the mere preparation of a markedfiber must attract observation in any mill, and that the subsequentintroduction of it into the paper would require special machinery notnow in use, we may feel assured that the manufacture of paper in the waythat I propose would involve a notoriety that would effectually confineit to paper for lawful purposes and highly useful to the government andthe community.

The peculiar features of my paper, then, concern:

First, its substance; and they are, first, its perfect homogeneity, tothe exclusion of all foreign bodies whatever. This is novel in paperlocally marked.

Second, the oneness or solidity 0f the sheet, necessitating a,weaviugand proper incorporation of the marked fibers, and preventing thesplitting of the paper to remove or alter the peculiar marks, both whichadvantages are unattainable in a paper couched with layers having amarked substance between them". Third, the new and greater varieties andcombinations of special marks which can be made in paper by thisprocess, and byno other, and which cannot be substituted by others iftaken away, which advantages are likewise not attainable by paper thatis not of one thickness, and whose distinguishing-marks are foreignbodies, and not a part or portion of itself. The parts of my paper, themarked fibers, may be taken away or their color discharged; but theycannot be recolored.

Fourth, the absence of different thicknesses in paper produced by theintroduction of foreign bodies, and which unfit it for fine printing,and which render it liable to break, rub,

wear away, tear easily, and even lose its. pecu liarit y by the foreignsubstance working loose and changingor coming out. so far as regards thesubstance of the paper.

The other patentable features regard the new effects which I produce.The first of these is due to theappearance of the markedpaper,

'. it by some obscure cylinder-machine,

of security is heightened by the knowledge that marked fibers introducedin that way cannot be imitated or changed. The effect produced by theintroduction of marked fibers at that particular. stage is a new one.The peculiarity is great and inimitable. The third is due to theknowledge that my paper cannot be produced upon any other machine thanthe Fourdrinier or in any other than a first-class mill. This lspeculiar to my paper. No other need be combined to a Fourdriniermachine. As it cannot be imitated and cannot be produced without greatnotoriety, it affords a thorough evidence of genuineness not reached byany otherpaper yet prepared.

It is well known that byfar-the greater number of counterfeit notes areprinted or photographed upon paper which-is not genuine banknote paper,but a paper made in imitation of and by persons who do not know how tomake the genuine article. Bank-note paperis made, indeed, by only threeor four mills in the whole country. If it is then so difficult forcounterfeiters to procure common bank-note paper, how muchcounterfeiting would be done if it had to be done upon paper like mine,with the argus eyes of the whole country vigilant for public protection?,As' a manufacturer of bank-note paper from my youth, I have made a longstudy of this matter, aided by a long experience. I know the difi'erentdesigns that have been tried or suggested, and I know that not one ofthem is in use at the preset time, all having proved unsuitable inpractice. I know the various reasons why they have been rejected or goneinto disuse, and by the aid of that knowledge I have invented a newpaper which is free from the objections which have ruled out all others.v

I have designed to make a paper so distinctly marked that all-candistinguish it; so peculiarly marked that all can readily learn thepeculiarity; to experts perfectly inimitable; to the microscopeabsolutelyso; to the public sufiioiently so to scare off the great bodyof utterers of spurious money.

I haveinvented a peculiar paper, which, if protected by a patent,counterfeiters could not obtain, and it is the only paper yet inventedwhich cannot be well imitated without great notoriety. I can yary thefiguring in it somewhat analogously to the varying of bankx middle byanother method.

.could be tested by note printing, making it, when desirable, differenton one side from what it is on the other,

in different degrees, even to leaving one side entirely white when thepeculiar marking does not extend entirely through the sheet, producing adifferent article and a new efi'ect not hitherto produced by any other.

We know the value of a paper circulation to the government, and that itsvalue depends entirely upon its inimitability. It is, perhaps,

impossible to renderit absolutely secure, yet. how important is it toapproach the point as nearly as possible, for paper values are countedin this country by thousands of millions. Howimportant is it for theexperts of the go?- ernment and of public institutions to have aninfallible test. in redeeming notes, and especially in redeemingcoupons. Paper made according to my 'plan/ could have thedistinguishing-mark run through a whole line of conpons, and theirgenuineness, when detached,

those in the bond. After the perfection and intricacy of banknoteengraving, the best principle which suggests itself is the production ofa peculiarity ofthe substance of the note or bond, so as to combine allpossible difficulties to stand in the counterfeiters way. When he hassucceeded in making one spurious plate he can counterfeit millions if hecan procure the paper. His utterances .will be limited by his supply ofproper paper',andif proper paper is of a peculiar kind, not produciblein an obscure way, nor to. beimitated by other devices, one which iseasily recognized as such, and whose production is limited by a patentprotection to one legitimate source, the counterfeiters occupation wouldbecome'so risky and unremunerative and his tracks so discoverable thatthe public might hope for entire freedom from his evil work.

A paper of this kind I have produced havin g these propertiesin aneminent degree, without any of the objectionable features which havekept all other and this I have effected without going outside the paperitself to find an associate to protect it.

I would add, in fine, one peculiarity of my paper-that is, the facilitywhich I offer of marking with perfect distinctness thickparchment-papers and other thick and opaque papers which would not showmarking iuthe distinctness upon a Fourdrinier wire-cloth paper of thegreatest thickness that can be made upon it by sowing and weaving thepeculiar fibers through and through the sheet.

In carry ng out my invention I prepare the pulp of the paper in theordinary manner, and then I distribute among this pulp during the stageof its transformation into paper, or while the same passes over thewire-cloth or wire, colored filnirs or shreds of any suitable materialdiffereg t from the ordinary fibers of the matching the cut fibers withpeculiar papers out of use V I can mark with\ producing sheets with oneor more lines or stripes running transversely or one or more lines orstripes running lengthwise difi'erent denominations of bank-notes orbonds can be indicated, and thealteration of one denomination to anotheris effectually prevented.

I do notclaim as my invention mixing different-colored fibersindiscriminately in paperpulp or paper; neither do Iclaim. the insertionof shreds in paper; but

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Paper having intermingled or united withthe fibers of the sheetdnringthe stage of trans tormatioufrom pulp to paper, 0r at any othertime when such a thing can'be done, of detached fibers or shredsdifferent from the ordinary fibers in such a way as to group or locatethe introduced matterin any part or parts of the sheet while theremainder is left free, or

compa'atively free, from it, thereby forming one or more streaks ordrops or clouds, or giving a general direction to said introducedfibers, or thereby producing any other distinctive mark oumnrks in thesheet or note.

JAWES M. \VILLOOX.

Witnesses W. HAUFF, WM. DEAN OVERELL.

